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March 28, 2013

Morgan Stanley CFO Passes on Treasury Post: Reports

Ruth Porat did not want to go through what Jack Lew did in the confirmation process, sources say

Ruth Porat (left), the chief financial officer of Morgan Stanley (MS), has withdrawn her name as a potential candidate for deputy Treasury secretary, according to several reports.

Porat’s decision, which Morgan Stanley would not comment on, appears to have been made in light of the acrimonious confirmation process endured by Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, a former executive at Citigroup (C), Bloomberg reported.

Lew faced a slew of questions about his compensation from Citi and from New York University but was confirmed on Feb. 27.

Possible candidates who are already in the pubic sector include Mary Miller, the under secretary of the Treasury for domestic affairs, and Lael Brainard, the under secretary of the Treasury for international affairs.

At Morgan Stanley, there had apparently been much speculation about who would succeed Porat, according to the New York Times, which noted that Porat had not yet shared her tax documents with the White House.

In late January, Morgan Stanley’s compensation committee gave its thumbs-up to a 2013 pay package for Porat of about $1 million, up from $750,000, a Reuters story said at the time.

Earlier this year, Morgan Stanley released Q4'12 earnings that beat market expectations, and CEO James Gorman said the firm had reached a "pivot point" in its turnaround, pointing out the results of its wealth management operations, which had pretax margins of 17% in the period.